Author: Ian Bothwell

There is a good reason labs are called retrievers.  They just cannot resist chasing sticks.  The excitement mounts when their masters pick up anything that can be thrown.  They bounce up and down with eager anticipation.  It is even better if the stick is thrown into a lake.  There is such joy in leaping belly first into the water to power one’s way to the floating object.  Grasping it firmly, the retriever swims head high to bring it back to the master’s feet.

In Jude 1:24 we read, “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,….” It emphasizes Jesus’ great joy in bringing us to the Father.  He could not be more proud than when He is able to bring you before the throne and proclaim you to be redeemed.  There is no doubt about it; Jesus is the Great Retriever. He has rescued us from ourselves.  He jumped into this cesspool of sin and brought us to safety.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 10, 2000

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The temperature was perfect; the late afternoon sun was drawing long shadows across God’s artistic reflections of red maple leaves, yellow beech and birch leaves against a deep blue sky punctuated with white, billowy cumulus clouds.  A kingfisher chattered his way across the river; this was one of life’s perfect moments.

There are those fleeting seconds worth all the years of life.  No amount of wealth or fame could ever be worth just one of those gems of time.  Perfection is rare in this world.  To score a “perfect ten” is a moment that needs to be captured by the camera of one’s mind and printed indelibly for those coming years when other memories fade.

Have you ever wondered how heaven will work?  If every moment is perfect, then will there be no special times?  In the midst of an endless array of perfection, how can anything stand out as perfect?  The truth is we do not know how heaven will work.  But whatever it is, it will be grand.

“But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”  1 Corinthians 2:9

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 10, 2000

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The English language is rich in modifiers.  Adjectives and adverbs flow from our mouths to describe numerous features of a noun.  Trucks are old.  Dogs are black.  Scenery is beautiful.  Or we can say old trucks, black dogs, or beautiful scenery.  Sometimes that does not seem strong enough so we add the word “very” in front of the descriptor.

In 2 Peter 1:4 Peter tries his best to impress us with an incredible truth.  He says, “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”  The promises of God are not just precious; they are great and precious.  But that was not strong enough for Peter.  They are, according to him, very great and precious.

And just what are these “very great and precious promises?” They are promises that we do not have to be slaves to our baser natures.  We can break free by actually becoming participants in the divine nature of God.  God is willing to move inside our very minds and share His ideas, thoughts and power so we can change into His image.  It is all so wonderful.  No, it is all so very wonderful.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 10, 2000

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Have you ever walked around for several hours with a stone in your shoe?  Sometimes the stone would be under your heel; then it would move under your arch.  It was annoying, but not annoying enough to stop what you were doing, take off your shoe, dump out the stone and put your shoe back on.  It would have taken you less that a minute, yet you persisted in enduring the annoyance.  And when you finally did take it out you found it was not much larger than a grain of sand.

How much like flaws in our characters.  We have little things that annoy others and ourselves, but we do not take the time and discipline to “clean house.”  Little quirks of personality and unhealthy habits that could be remedied we ignore because it would be inconvenient to make the mental effort.

Improvement in self is possible if we will just make a bit of an effort.  We can stop annoying others and ourselves if we will only purpose to do so.  Best of all we can have help.  God does say in Psalm 91:15, “…call upon me, and I will answer….”

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 12, 2000

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There was a woodpecker in the house.  The back door had been left open and the woodpecker came in.  The poor guy was panic-stricken.  Madly he flew from room to room banging himself against walls.  It was not a pleasant experience.  The first impulse was to grab a net and try to catch him.  But wisdom took over–just open all the doors to the house and get out of the way.  Sure enough.  In a few minutes the woodpecker found his way out the front door.  For the next hour he chattered all over the yard.  He must have been telling the others of his horrible adventure.

Chasing him about the house with a net surely would have injured him.  Have you ever wondered if when we are in difficult places God opens doors of opportunity for us and then gets out of the way?  Sometimes all we need is a chance.  He already has given us the brain and talent to succeed.  He knows it is best for us to use them because real success is our success and not something handed to us by another.

This however is not true when it comes to salvation.  Because we are sinners we cannot meet the demands of the law.  It is essential that Jesus’ success becomes ours.  He gives it.  We accept, and we grow.  We take His gifts and use His strength, and we find freedom

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 27, 2000

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The weekend is over and it is time to go back to work.  How hard that is after a perfect weekend!  You know, one of those weekends where the temperature is perfect and the sun shines all day.

 How about this for an idea?   Retirement at the age of 65 is too radical to do all at once.  People should be allowed to work up to it thus making the transition less stressful.  On a person’s 45^th birthday they should begin the process by not going back to work until Tuesday.  When they reach 50 they should not go back to work until Wednesday.  At 55 they go back to work on Thursday.  After 60 they only go to work on Friday.  And finally at 65 they get to retire.  This slow transition for skilled experienced craftsmen will make room for youthful workers to assume responsibility on a graduated program supplying leadership on the days the older workers are gone.  Now is that not a great idea or what?

Alas!  We come back to reality and recognize that it is back to work on Monday morning.  But, ah, courage.  Isaiah 40:31, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 30, 2000

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One of the joys of owning an old house is the continual process of repairing aging everything.  There is always a broken something that needs attention.  One could almost conclude that people who believe in evolution have never lived in an old house.  Things in an old house do not become more organized by themselves.  Rather an old house is a perfect example of entropy.

The whole process is not much different than humankind’s degeneration after the fall of Eve and Adam.  It took just one generation to produce a murderer.  And our history has not been exemplary since then.  But the whole is made up of individuals.  We do not have to look at history as a whole.  All we need to do is watch one person born so innocent and watch the selfish process strip away that innocence.

Thus the horrendous need for the plan of redemption, which is not really so much about materially rewarding the redeemed with mansions as it is about restoration to wholeness.  That is what we need.  Frankly, we can do without the streets of gold.  What we cannot do without is regeneration into the image of the One who originally made us in His image.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 16, 2000

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Fifty years ago children played outside a lot especially on warm summer evenings as the darkness was beginning to fall.  They played “Kick the Can,” “Tag,” “Statue” and “Hide and Seek.”  They ran through the neighborhood screaming and yelling, “You’re it.”  Inevitably someone’s mother would call out, “Time for baths.”  Baths?  Why would anyone want to wash off the salty sweat mixed with the day’s dust?  That was the tattoo of an evening’s fun.

So it was when three grandchildren came to visit.  They wanted to play and grandpa suggested “Tag.”  They had a better idea.  Off they ran for the Monopoly game to get the money.  “Let’s play “Charity,” grandpa,” they yelled.  “Grandpa, you be the poor man and we will give you money.”  In the next few minutes the three grandchildren invented all kinds of ways to help imaginary people in need as they ran from “place to place and person to person”

Grandpa had learned a new game.  He liked the game.  When he was a boy it was “Cops and Robbers.”  He liked “Charity.”  Perhaps the world would be a better place if all children played “Charity” instead of “Cops and Robbers.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 26, 2003 rogerbothwell.org

 

Years ago the media was filled with the dire Y2K predictions of the uninformed.  The New Year came and went and airplanes did not drop out of the sky and our bank records were still less than we desired.  I knew some folk who were actually disappointed.  They were so hungry for Jesus to return they wanted civilization to go down the tubes.  The logic being Jesus would come and rescue us if life only somehow got bad enough.

There are some among us who think we shouldn’t recycle nor drive fuel efficient cars.  Their logic is the sooner we destroy our environment the sooner Jesus will return.  There is something horribly twisted about this catastrophic theology.

All my life I have heard sermons based upon what I thought was Jesus’ message in Matthew 24.  Then one day I read it for myself and was amazed. Jesus said, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”  I was amazed because Jesus was telling us just the opposite of the hype that fed my childhood theology.  Every time a war or an earthquake occurred I heard that Jesus was coming soon.  That is not what He said.  He said, “Not yet.”

If Jesus were waiting for the earth to get more and more wicked He must have missed the Holocaust and a host of other genocides.  It isn’t about wickedness, nor earthquakes, nor wars.   It is about love and grace.  God, a loving Father, is extremely reluctant to shut the door.  Please read II Peter 3.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 31, 2009

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She’d been caught with her hand in the Cheerios.  The front of the box promised a treasure inside and she could not wait until the family ate their way to the bottom.  She had to have her book right away.  Do you remember how your mother made your wait ‘til the box was empty?  It was awful looking at the cereal box morning after morning waiting for the treasure to come tumbling into your bowl.  No digging was allowed.

Psychologists tell us that teaching people to delay gratification is a good thing.  It enables them in later life to sacrifice for meaningful goals.  Sometimes we think of Christianity as delayed gratification.  If we give enough now, if we sacrifice enough now, if we are good enough, if we deprive ourselves of something now someday we will get to heaven.  While it is true, wonders do await those who allow Jesus to save them, we do not have to wait to begin experiencing the gift of salvation.  Citizenship in God’s kingdom brings privileges that are available right away.

The psychological benefits are readily apparent.  We can stop worrying about the future; we are secure.  We can have peace of mind regarding past sins; they have been cared for.  We can begin to reap better physical health because life’s stresses are reduced.  Our relationship with people around us slowly improves because we are not alienating them with our competitive spirit.  We become nicer and more likeable.  There are a lot of treasures available now.

We don’t have to eat all the Cheerios to experience the cheer.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 18, 2002